Tick tock, it’s vampire-killing o’clock. Netflix has unveiled a new trailer for its upcoming Castlevania sequel series, Castlevania: Nocturne, and it’s dripping with exhilarating action, incredible animation, and stylish presentation.
Offering a closer look at its new cast of characters, story details, and the French Revolution setting, it features Richter Belmont, the last living descendent of Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades, who’s enlisted to fight against a tyrannical vampire known as the “Vampire Messiah”. Unlike Dracula’s grand scheme to annihilate humanity for killing his wife, the new big bad — with the aid of counter-revolutionary aristocracy — threatens to devour the sun and plunge the world into eternal darkness. It’s up to Richter and Maria Renard, a magic user, to stop them at all costs.
The latter isn’t the only familiar face longtime Castlevania fans can expect. In Netflix’s tweet promoting the new trailer, characters like Annette, Olrox, Drolta, and Edouard were also mentioned, promising a trip down the memory lane. In the games, Annette is Richter’s love interest who first appeared in 1993’s Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, which also marked the debut of Maria. Unlike the former, Maria is a playable character in both Rondo of Blood and later in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night.
Drolta Tzuentesa, witch from Castlevania: Bloodlines, seems to share a connection to Nocturne‘s Erzsebet Báthory (aka the Vampire Messiah). In the game, she summons her vampire mistress, Elizabeth Bartley (similar, much?) and together, the two attempt to raise Dracula from the dead. A bonus treat: listen carefully to the trailer, and you might even catch a snippet of an orchestral cover of “Divine Bloodlines,” a musical track from Rondo of Blood.
Castlevania: Nocturne is helmed by showrunner Clive Bradley and producer Kevin Kolde, with Powerhouse Animation Studios breathing life into the visuals. It stars Edward Bluemel (Killing Eve, The Commuter) as Richter, Pixie Davis (Mary Poppins Returns, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children) as Maria, Thuso Mbedu (The Woman King) as Annette, Franka Potente (The Bourne Identity) as Erzsebet, Sydney James Harcourt (Hamilton) as Edouard, Nastassja Kinski (Inland Empire, Cat People) as Tera, Zahn McClarnon (Reservation Dogs, Fargo) as Olrox, and more.
The eight-episode series will hit Netflix on 28 September 2023.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
